Category Archives: Bass Fly Fishing

My Quest to Learn Popper Fly Fishing for Largemouth

Is that the rainbow trout popper i built, painted and tied hanging out of this largemouth’s face? Why yes it is…

I came to the shocking reality of the largest winter in California recorded history in February of 2023: Most of the places I love to fly fish in the Sierra Nevada will not fish well (because of runoff) until August or later this year.  And some of those places just will not be accessible at all this year because the roads are destroyed (or will become destroyed when the big runoff comes in June).  I know my way around a trout stream.  I have been fly fishing for trout for decades.  So, in the beginning of 2023 the writing was on the wall: I would not be able to do my annual springtime fly fishing trips for trout in the Sierra Nevada and I’d be lucky to do any fly fishing in the Sierras by August.  If I wanted to fly fish I would have to find alternatives.

So, I made it my quest to learn as much as possible about freshwater fly fishing for Bass with popper flies.  In the fly-fishing club that I serve as president, The San Diego Fly Fishers Club, we have quite a few experts at “the bass thing”.  And we have many lakes in and around San Diego County that support healthy populations of largemouths, smallmouths and many other fresh water fish species willing to take a fly.  I have caught plenty of freshwater bass in my time.  I have fished for bass on top plenty of times successfully with Huck Hoppers.  But, I had heard these legends of popper fly fishing and was intrigued.

How fun does this look?!

So, with a ton of internet research, reading books and magazines, and many discussions with the experts I had access to, I learned as much as I could.  Then I put what I learned into practice on 6 fishing days over 3 different lakes during the months of April and May, 2023.  This is my account of that journey from February to May of 2023.

I have an obsessive personality.  I’m not obsessive/compulsive where obsession ruins the rest of my life.  But, when I set out to learn something…. Well, let’s just say I don’t half-ass it.

The first component I got obsessed about was building, painting and tying popper flies.  We use them religiously for the dorado in baja.  But, when talking to the experts like Jim Brown (long time San Diego City Lakes Manager and godfather of fly fishing for bass in san diego), he mentioned that fishing with popper flies is the ultimate in fun when fly fishing for bass.  It’s pretty obvious why: you fish on top like a dry fly and the bass rise to the popper.  The thing that is different from trout, I was told, is that “Some of the takes on top are viscous”.  So, I made a little visit to the man-cave of my friend and expert John Ashley.  He showed me the popper flies he made, painted and tied.  I was shocked.  He showed me his Copic Airbrushing system.  Well, $100 later with a small compressor then turned into ~$200 in supplies.  I was worried because I have very little artistic talent.  I’m an engineer by trade.  And there is very little guidance on the painting part of popper flies on the interweb.  but, through some practice I managed to paint some trout and frog popper flies.  They looked pretty good, I must admit.  Which made me worried that they wouldn’t work.

this is one of a handful of frog popper flies i built, painted and tied.

With the popper flies I had made and the knowledge I’d gained from the experts I headed out for 6 fishing days spread over 4 weeks with some confidence.  I had success.  But, I was humbled during many points.  Here is a short chronicle of my adventures:

April 21-23: Squaw Lake

Every year the San Diego Fly Fishers Club does a weekend of camping at Squaw Lake.  Because of calendar conflicts… and because it’s right in the heart of spring trout fishing in the sierras (in every year but this one), I had never got the choice to join.  I really had no idea what or where this place was until after I decided to join in and go.  After staring at google maps I could see that it was part of the Colorado river system right on the California side of the border with Arizona (the river being the border).  But, I had no idea what I was in for.

I’m in love with my Hobie Lynx Kayak.  i get so much range out of it and can actually stand up and cast.

On the guidance of my fellow club members, I did the dawn patrol thing so I could get there early and secure a decent campsite.  So, I was in the water in my kayak by 10am.  I was fishing alone.  The first thing I noticed was the current.  It really is part of the Colorado river and a float tube would be almost impossible except for close to the camp.  I fished a popper for a good couple hours before I gave up.  I failed to fool anything to come up to the top of the water column.  I fished what looked like really good water with tons of vegetation on the banks.  So, I switched to a medium sink like and more traditional clouser like patterns and started catching fish.  in the main channel while drifting under current and doing a very fast retrieve I caught a striper.  They pull like crazy but don’t jump like a largemouth does.  I caught a few largemouths here and there but, I wouldn’t call the fishing crazy good.  There were long periods without takes.  It was during one of those long periods I noticed what looked like an entrance to a protected lagoon.  I stared at Gaia maps on my phone and sure enough it was a 100 by 100 yard lagoon behind brush.  You’d couldn’t see through to it by looking.  But, there was a tiny entrance protected by weeds underneath and brush on both sides.  I made a run for it and made it through.  And that is when it got nuts.  I was fishing water that didn’t see a lot of flies, if any, and was killing.  Really I should have switch back to the popper.  I could kick myself now for not doing that.  But, I was having so much fun raling largies I didn’t.  after an exhausting day of fishing I got back to camp and John Ashley, my bass fishing mentor and friend was there.  he said, “I know the lagoon you are talking about.  Just wait until tomorrow.”  Little did I know at the time.

fighting the current through the narrow set of channels on the way to imperial reservoir

“if you are up for it, tomorrow we’ll go to Imperial Reservoir.”, John said.  I shot back, “we have to load our kayaks and drive somewhere?” “Oh no, my friend, we’ll do a jungle boat cruise against the current to get there.”  Well, that mile long physical adventure of a journey turned out to be an epic day.  I am pretty sure I landed over 25 and lost just as many.  I caught a ton of largemouths including a couple stripers.  But, my favorite part was when, in a small lagoon I found john and switched to a popper fly to fish with him.  He watched me and immediately said something like, “What in the hell are you doing? No no no.  that’s all wrong.”  In all the guidance and discussions I had about popper fishing for bass I somehow failed to glean the most important information: how to strip back the fly.  I was stripping it back fast like you fish for dorado in the open ocean.  In freshwater bass fishing you cast the popper fly as close to the bank as possible.  Then you let it sit for a painfully long amount of time before jerky slow strips.  But, it was the end of day 2 and I still hadn’t caught a bass on a popper fly.

Stripers, at least the ones i caught, fight hard but don’t strike on top and don’t come up for a fly.  The only success i had with catching stripers was stripping fast in deep water.

What a special oasis in the desert this place is.  But, I have to wait until the winter to get back there.  Understand you can’t just go out there to Squaw Lake any time of the year.  It gets hotter than hell out there.  It’s a winter and early spring fishery.

doing these selfie trophy pics with my iPhone is a challenge that I’m already tired of

May 5-6: Lake Mead

When a business trip to Las Vegas for the startup I’m working with appeared on the calendar, I reached out to the las vegas fly fishing club for guidance on how to fish lake mead.  What I got in return from Kris, member of the board at the Las Vegas Fly fishing club was incredible help.  Especially on where to camp and fish.  It’s faster for me to drive to Las Vegas than fly so I threw my float tube in the back of my truck and did another dawn patrol drive.

I had the entire place to myself. The drought: the actual high water mark is above where i’m taking the picture

It took a small section of legit 4WD but when I got to the lake, I literally parked 5 feet from the shore in an oasis of coves of crystal clear water and had the entire place to myself; not a sole for miles in any direction.

This time armed with one of Jim Brown’s Fenwick fiberglass rods from the 70s, I tied a popper on and attacked… for hours without a strike before switching to a sinking line again convinced I’d never catch a largemouth on a popper fly.  Discouraged, I was mentally ready to get skunked.  But, with a medium sink line and a shad looking clouser I hooked up, battled and released a nice sized striper.  “It took 3 hours, but I finally caught a fish.” is what I txtd my wife, Kelly.  I caught a couple more fish over the next hour or two.  There were smallmouths.  Cool.  But it was slow and I still had not seen a largemouth let alone a shad boil.

Much of Lake Mead allows disbursed camping on BLM land.  I spent 20 minutes building this campfire pit.  Then disassembled it when leaving.  I ultimately believe this will all be under 50-100 feet of water again within a few years.

It was the end of the day so I peddled (My Hobie Lynx is a peddle driven kayak) back to camp, made myself a cocktail, cooked a steak and listened to my beloved Padres get whacked by the Dodgers.

“Today is a new day.” I told myself at sunrise.  And I had until 3pm when I’d pack up camp, drive to the strip and clean up at Caesers before the software launch party I was to attend that night.  As I staggered out of the bed in my truck, I noticed another truck about 200 feet away.  I was not alone.  After making myself a cup of coffee I spotted the guy.  He was a gear fisherman and he started early.  I walked over to where he could see me and shouted hi.  Well, soon enough he wander into my camp and we chatted a bit about the fishing.  He was a nice guy for sure.  I didn’t learn anything though because he was a gear fisherman.  For the next 20 minutes while I scrambled to get ready to fish myself he literally fished right in front of my truck.  But, he didn’t catch anything.  Hmmm…

I caught a half dozen or so small mouth bass.  but, i never managed to catch a largemouth in Lake Mead… or any fish on a popper fly.

By the time I got into my kayak to fish it was close to 8am.  for the next couple hours it was slow.  I caught a smallmouth and that was fun.  My goal was to fish the shoreline and all its coves going north for at least 2 miles.  Then it happened.  I caught a smallmouth that barfed up a shad as I was pulling him in to release him.  But, the shad was tiny.  Like 1 ½” tiny.  I was fishing shad patterns that were over 3”… over 2 times the size of the naturals.  So, I scoured my fly boxes for a smaller shad pattern and found a small streamer in white that would have to suffice.  It did.  I started killing.  And I was pleased because I figured it out.  It took me like 6 hours of fishing to figure it out.  But, I did.  It got so good that in the process of unkinking my medium sink like I hooked into a big fish with the fly just sitting there skimming the bottom.  After a significant battle it turned out to be a big catfish.  In that final 2-3 hours I caught about a dozen fish.  half of them smallmouth and half of them stripers.  There were no largemouth to be found and I still hadn’t caught a fish on popper flies.

My large net skews the size of this catfish.  it was pretty huge and drug me around in my kayak for a while before I could tire him out.

May 10 & 12: Barrett Lake

Barrett Lake in San Diego county is world famous.  It is a very special place.  It has been covered in fishing magazines and television shows for years.  It’s so special that when reservations / tickets go on sale for Barrett each year, it has to be done on Ticketmaster.  Jim Brown told me that many years ago, the late 70s I believe, when they decided to hand over the ticketing season for Barrett over to Ticketmaster it was the first time Ticketmaster collapsed because of scale.  Realize, at the time Ticketmaster had already successfully handled tickets for the Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra tours.  So, now you fly fishers can relate to the young folks you recently saw crying in social media because Ticketmaster collapsed for the 2023 Taylor Swift tour.

As much as i hate my iPhone, it sure does take good pictures.  I lucked out on this picture.  this big largemouth jumped and flipped in the process.  I probably lost him in that process.  Notice the mirror image of him on the lake.

Lake Barrett is restricted to catch and release, single hook, barbless fishing; rare for a bass lake.  It also is one of the many reasons the fishing is so good there.  Its season is just 3 days per week (Wed, Sat & Sun) for 4 months starting in May.  Tickets are released monthly on a controlled basis and the access is limited to a small restricted amount of anglers on those days.

I have been lucky to have fished Lake Barrett for the last 3 years.  and I have had a lot of success there thanks to guidance given to me from Kim Jones, who I call, the “Queen of Barrett”.  But, I had never popper fished there.  and I had always fished in a float tube which basically limited me to about a mile from the dock.

I had to txt my buddy Kim Jones and ask her what the hell this one was. “Black Crappie”. Even they rise to a popper fly at Barrett

Well, the SDFF club has the rare pleasure of renting Lake Barrett for a single day of exclusive use each year from the city of San Diego.  It costs a bunch of money and hassle in terms of permitting and insurance and such.  But, we know what a special thing it is for our members, so it is worth all the expense and hassle.

Back to Ticketmaster.  I had the day/time of the go on sale for Barrett for months on my calendar.  I got myself logged in on Ticketmaster at least 10 minutes in advance saying to myself, “This is the year I get to fish on opening day.”  I seemed to be sitting in some form of electronic queue. By the time it was my time to purchase the first 4 dates were already sold out.  sigh.  Just like every year I bought the first available.  Now I was pissed because the day I picked, Wednesday, May 10 was just 2 days before the Friday date that the SDFF club had the lake.  I figured I’d give the tickets away until I said to myself, “what the hell.  Even though it’s a huge drive there and back I’ll fish it a couple days before and provide that intel to the rest of the club who would fish it a couple days later”.

Just another big Barrett Bass

I talked to Jim Brown the day before my first shot of the season at Barrett and he said, “If I were you I’d fish poppers all day.”  So, even though I had still yet to catch a largemouth on a popper fly I resigned myself to that plan.  And yea, I was worried.

It was early like you are supposed to be and I headed out on my kayak.  I had already lost my fishing buddy (jim Casteluzzo who I treated to the day) because he got in the water a good 20 minutes ahead of me.  So, alone I attacked the western side of the lake in a northern direction towards Pine Creek.  As previously mentioned, I have fished barrett before, but never in a kayak (which has a much larger range than a float tube).  And I still hadn’t caught a fish on a popper fly.  So, my mission was to explore places in the lake I had never seen before.  And catch a barrett largemouth on a popper.

This is the typical “cookie cutter” ~14″ largie you fool at Lake Barrett. But, there are some monsters in that lake.

Well, I fired one of the rainbow trout poppers I made for the first 20 minutes with nothing.  I said to myself, “I know the fish are here. I know I can catch them with a medium sink line.”  I didn’t think you could be too early in bass fishing.  I was carrying two rods so I switched and immediately caught a huge black crappie and then a largemouth.  So, I grabbed the popper rod again with resolute.  Within minutes I had my first largie on a popper!  I was stoked.  Within two hours I had lost count of how many takes I had.  At one point I was all by myself laughing, all by myself, and saying out loud, “It can’t get any more fun than this.”  At the end of the day I figured I had landed over 25 on popper flies and lost easily that many to my lack of bass fighting skills and barbless hooks.

My favorite moment was a big largemouth that struck my popper fly on the way up on a jump….and jumped clear out of the water with the popper.  I set on him in the air.  You can do that with bass.  That would cause calamity with a trout.  Well, it was close to 4pm now and I was txting back and forth with my buddy Kim Jones asking her how late I could stay on the lake.  But, the reality was my over 60 year old body was killing me from all the fights with fish.  I could barely cast my arm hurt so badly.  So, I called it a day… a very good day and peddled it back to huktruk for the battle on the 5 north home.

Barrett really is beautiful lake in the spring.  I literally have 20+ pictures of the mirror image thing like this from the Hauser arm of the lake.

Well, I had intel alright.  And that word spread throughout the club.  2 days later I decided I’d try the Hauser arm of the lake because I had not been there either.  Since I had so much success 2 days prior I also decided I’d be in no rush and be happy with whatever happened.  But, it seemed like the entire other 50 fly fishers went down the Pine creek arm…. Seemingly armed with my fishing report of a 2 days prior.  I basically had the entire hauser arm to myself.  I marvelled at the calm water and the nature all around me.  I caught a lot of fish.  but, I wasn’t as “agro” about it like a couple days prior.   I probably caught half as many as the couple days prior. At one point I chased a huge largemouth chasing a bait ball of shad for over an hour.  It was futile.  By the time I got to where he struck, him and the bait ball were 100 yards away.  I fished a popper fly all day.  And was really happy about it.

Here’s another picture I totally lucked out on. notice the popper fly hanging out of the face on this one.

Conclusions

I have this saying.  I bet I have said it a thousand times: “Nothing fights like a Trout.”  I know I said it about the Corvina of Baja in the article I wrote here.

As it turns out, fly fishing for bass can be just as strategic as it is for trout.  And I learned the hard way that “matching the hatch” when it comes to fly fishing for bass, is just as important as it in in trout fishing.  It’s just not about bugs; it’s about figuring out what they are eating and matching the size and color.  Just like in trout fishing you have to observe, adapt and overcome.  I liked that part of bass fishing a lot.  I also found myself loving fishing on top for largemouths as much as I love drifting a dry fly down a river.

My quest completed multiple times: C&R largemouths on Popper Flies.  Of interest, I ultimately had success on a lot of different popper flies both that I tied myself and some that I bought….like this one…which is the crystal popper we use on Dorado in Baja of all things.

Fly Fishing Kauai for Bluefin Trevally from Shore

November 2022 Update:

I now sell Hawaii specific flies on this site:

  • The Huck Huna fly that I have had Blue Fin Trevally success with.  order it here.
  • The Huck Oama fly that imitates the juvenille goatfish (weke).  order it here.
  • The Hawaiian Islands Special which includes 3 Huck Hunas in sizes 2,4,6 and 3 Huck Oamas in sizes 2,4,6.  order it here.

November 27 to December 4th, 2020

When a fly fisher thinks about fishing Kauai it is typically about the rare and the elusive Kauai rainbows.   I have written about hunting the fabled rainbow trout of Kauai many times.  Hundreds, if not thousands of people have reached out to me over the years for guidance on how to find and fish the rainbows of Kauai.  The “thing” about Kauai’s rainbows is that it’s an all-day thing requiring a big drive, a big hike, and lots of bushwhacking through plants and over lava that will take your blood.  it is very physical.  The rainbows live deep in the jungles of Kokee State park where the rain flows cool down streams and rivers from altitude on the rainiest place on earth.  That also means you are using a machete just to get to the water and frequently to cut a path for your fly line.

This article is about DIY saltwater fly fishing from the Kauai shoreline for the Bluefin Trevally.  I wrote about my success after 20 years of misery last year: https://fly-fishing-blog.timhuckaby.com/fly-fishing-guidance-for-hawaii/.  Well, with the island pretty darn empty and a lot more time on the water I learned a lot more on my latest trip.   There are so many ways to fly fish the saltwater of Kauai.  In this article I will be focusing on just one of the ways: hunting the predator gamefish from shore.

This was a last-minute trip Kelly and I pulled off on points.  We snuck it in between the closing of the Hawaiian Islands in the basically 3 week period that the islands were open in 2020 because of COVID-19.  We own a timeshare in Poipu at the Marriott Waiohai.  20+ years ago I was totally against buying it, but talked into it, unwillingly, by my wife, Kelly.  I was totally wrong.  It was the smartest thing we have ever done.  We go every September, travelling on points, after the kids go back to school and the island is less crowded.  But Covid-19 cancelled this year’s September trip.  With kelly going stir crazy at the house and a government regulated testing program in place we snuck in a weeklong trip…. And we were lucky.  With “no one” on the island it was easy to be covid safe.  The islands locked down again just a few days after we left.

how’d ya’ like to pull the fly out of the face of this beast?

The good news was that the island of Kauai was pretty empty of tourists because of the rigorous requirements of passing governmental covid testing and the short notice of the openings and closing of the islands.  I am confident I will never ever again experience the beaches of that island so empty.  I always worry about my back-cast hitting a curious tourist walking up behind me; not on this trip.  The bad news is the Hawaiian economy, almost solely dependent on tourism, is decimated.  So many businesses and restaurants closed.  The people of Kauai are suffering….or will be when governmental aid runs out.  The business owners are definitely suffering.  Even the Hyatt itself in Poipu has closed indefinitely.  That is a huge, wildly popular resort that is even frequented by the rich and famous.  Such difficult times.

I had to pause the double hauling to just stare at this for a while.

The Fishing

Ok, let’s get to the fishing.  I did well.  I caught around a dozen bluefin trevally over 4 2-4 hour fly fishing sessions.  So it’s not like it was steelhead fishing slow in terms of lack of action.  But, it wasn’t like it was crazy nuts getting struck on every cast trout fishing.  Typically what happens when we visit Kauai is that we pick a new adventure every day.  The “battle” between kelly and I is that we are on one of the, if not the nicest beaches on the island in Poipu, so leaving that beach just feet from our condo is hard for her; understandably so.  Since I can’t sit still I will typically snorkel or fly fish or find something else to keep me busy.  Or she’ll just put a rum drink in my hand to keep me from being fidgety.  rum does work to slow me down.

The Bluefin Trevally – quite a special fish

The Bluefin Trevally

The bluefin trevally was the fish I was hunting.  2 Septembers ago I caught a few special ones. After figuring out how to fish them and that changed me forever.  I now dream about fishing for bluefin trevally.  They are an amazing gamefish predator to battle on a fly rod; very special.  They fight like hell.  I have mentioned a few times on this site the monster bluefin trevally I lost many years ago at Mahaulepu that will haunt me forever.  Also, one of my favorite stories from a few years back is fishing bait on conventional gear with my son, Mark. I bought a cheap $20 trout rod for him at the Walmart on the island.  We were on top of the cliff at secret beach in Mahaulepu.  He hooked and landed a large marbled hawkfish (called a piliko’a in Hawaii).  The hawkfish looks poisonous it has so many spines.  And you cant grab them because of those spines.  We had trouble releasing it with forceps, so I told him to give it a breather in the water and we’d try again after it breathed a bit.  While the fish struggled on the top of the water column, clearly tired, a 3 foot long Blue Trevally came from nowhere like lightning and swallowed it.  It took off like a gun shot and started peeling 6 pound mono test from that cheap trout rod….for about 2 seconds when that cheap reel couldn’t keep up and the line just snapped.  We both looked at each other in shock.  I simply said, “that was the blue trevally.”  He said, “Oh my God…”

One of the Bluefins I caught on this trip was special and has a story.  More on that in a bit. I did catch a handful of predator reef fish in the mix.  It was not crazy every cast getting struck upper Kern River or Clark Fork River crazy like us trout fishermen sometimes experience.  I did have to work for the fish I caught.  Frequently I had to work an area for 30+ casts before getting a strike.

blah blah

To be successful fly fishing the bluefin trevallys (and other similar predators shore-fishing in Kauai) there is a prescription for success.  I am not claiming to be an expert, yet, by any stretch.  But, every hour on the water; every year gets me closer:

  • You have to be able to double haul a cast more than 50 feet, frequently into the wind. So, this is the type of fly fishing that is just not for beginners.
  • You have to be able to do that double haul while standing on lava or rocks or sand getting pounded by waves. I never do anything too crazy that it’s unsafe, but it is annoying when you get pounded.
  • You aim for the back of the wave; not in front of it. if you have snorkeled you have seen fish follow the waves, not get pounded in the chop by them.  It’s easier to keep a tight line in the back of the waves too.
  • You have to be willing to lose flies. Anything can happen with that wind and surf that will allow your fly to sink and catch the reef.
  • I use a Temple Fork Outfitters (TFO) TiCr2 9’0″ 4pc. 300-400GB Lefty Kreh 10 weight with a Rio Outbound short tropical line. TFO has replaced the TiCr2 with the Bluewater SG.  With that super fast retrieve I’m fishing the top of the water column so there is no need for casting heaving sinking lines.
  • You have to strip as fast as possible. Because of that fast retrieve the take to landing ratio is really good.  You rarely miss a fish when you are stripping so fast.  Well, except for those damn foot long needle fish that nip at the tails of your flies all the way in.
  • You’re aiming for deeper water that has structure close. Some of my success is simply hunting where they hang out while snorkling.  Then going back at where they are with a rod.  On this trip I was very surprised to run into a school of 20 or so of them in 20 feet of water with a sandy bottom at poipu beach, though.
  • Flies? Well, who knows.  My success came on a number of different flies, including bonefish flies (which makes very little sense).  For that reason alone it seems that presentation, placement and stripping speed are a lot more important than the fly itself.  But, what I was most excited about was catching them on an Avalon Permit fly that my buddy and co-inventor of the fly, William from Cuba and now working at RO Drift boats in Bozeman tied for me.

one of the obstacles to avoid when fly fishing Kauai: the endangered hawaiin monk seal

Catch and Release

In Hawaii the bluefin trevally is called the Omilu.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluefin_trevally.  The Hawaiians not only eat them but consider them a delicacy.  If I was offshore in a boat railing tuna I wouldn’t have a problem keeping a fish.  But, as a tourist, I just don’t feel comfortable harvesting fish from shore.  There are a lot of local Hawaiians that fish from the shore (netting, spear fishing and bait fishing) every day for simple sustenance.  I just don’t feel good about being their competition, so I let everything I catch go unharmed.  And yea, I sure do get some strange looks and even some comments when people see me let fish go after catching them.

Other fish i caught on this trip included the marbled hawkfish – piliko’a and a big ol wrasse or parrotfish that I had trouble releasing so I didn’t take a picture trying to release it without killing it.

Another not so endangered species to avoid tripping over: the green sea turtle.

My favorite Takeaway Story of the Trip

There are some things we do every time we visit Kauai.  One of them is what we call “the north shore” – Kee beach at the very northern part of the island where the road ends at the Kalalua trailhead.  Officially it’s called Hāʻena State Park and you have to reserve in advance and pay a fee because it is so popular.  I like that.  I assume those fees are going to the conservation of that magical place.  It’s a huge trek from Poipu where our condo is on the southern part of the island in Poipu.  It’s an all-day thing.  It’s 51 miles and frequently takes longer than an hour and a half to get to.  You can see from this map.  The interesting thing truly unique about Kauai is that the road doesn’t go entirely around the island; not even close.  A full third of the island is completely undeveloped jungle.  I like that a lot.  Anyways, my point is it is a very popular place and normally I have to walk for over a mile to get space to cast.  Not on this day, though.  No one there.  So, I got to hunt.

A completely empty Mahaulepu. i’m pretty sure i will never see that again in my lifetime

I saw the flash, but it was a good 60 feet away. The wind backed down just long enough for me to double haul my TFO 10 wt TiCR2 into the zone. Whack! At first, I thought I caught the reef…until the reef started peeling line away. That rod is a single hand rod designed by the Lefty Kreh, but it is a beast with two handles and the fighting butt of a spey rod. The fly was an Avalon Permit fly tied by the William of Cuba, one of the designers who currently works at Ro in Bozeman. That fish gave me everything I had in the fight.  Picture little ol me with two hands on the rod and line peeling away.  I was using a 20 lb flouro leader and actually worried about it at points in the battle.  Those Bluefins fight so hard.  Well, after what seemingly took forever and was probably just a few minutes I had it tired out and on a shelf with water so I could release it.  I wanted to do it as quickly as possible so as not to harm the fish.  A couple Hawaiians watched in shock as I let it go.  I put it on my Instagram here.

That’s Kelly on Kee beach with the sun shining and completely empty – shocking

Epilogue

I still have not caught a bonefish on Kauai.  I thought I did two Septembers ago, but one of you readers pointed out that the fish I caught was a related species, but not an actual bonefish. On this trip I did not see a single bonefish so I never got a chance to try.  Of course, the way I fished for Trevallys is totally contrary to the way you’d fish for bonefish; hunting in shallow water from the beach with pinpoint accurate casts and slow retrieves.

school of small bluefin trevally

Update: i now sell the Huck Huna fly that i have had Blue Fin Trevally success with.  order it here.